Cotton-chopper



c ENGL'ER. COTTON CHOPPER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 7,1919.

Patented Oct. 26, 1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET I anuvzmtoz CHARLES ENGLEX? axi Emma Clftouw, is;

C. ENGLER.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 7, 1919. 1,356,758, Patented 00t.26,1920.

3 SHEETSSHEET.2.

wuentoz UHARLES ENGLER q vi/tncm v Y C. ENGLE'R.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY7, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- ampamtoz (Jam/915s EVGLZR. QXHMQM v 1 31 a r IPatented Oct. 26, 1920.

UNITED STATES ormnnns ENGLER,

COTTON-CHOPPER. I I

Application filed May 7,

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CHARLES ENGLER, a

citizen of the United States, residin at Austin, in the county of Travisand tate of Texas, have invented a new and useful Cotton-Chopper, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in cotton choppers,.the object ofthe invention being to provide an improved machine of this characterwhich is capable of belng steered by the feet of the driver to followthe linezof the cotton drill and in which the chopper gear head can beraised and lowered to suit the height of the team used in haulv ing thechopper carriage.

provide a machine of the character set forth in which the speed ofrotation of the chopper'may be changed at will, thereby to leave wideror narrower'spaces between'the cuts in the drills.

A further object of the present invention is to generally improve, theconstruction of machines of this character and to provide a machine thatis comparatively simple 1n construction and highly eflicient inoperation. U V v 0 With the foregoing and. other ob ects in view, whichwill appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists thenovelfeatures of construction and combinatlon of I parts which will be morefully descr bed hereinafter and particularly pointed out in the claims.1

. In the drawings accompanying and forming part ofthis specification,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section taken 'on the line 11. of Fig. 3,certain of the parts being broken away;

Fig.2 is a cross section taken on the line 2-.-2 of Fig. 3, looking inthe direction of a of Fig. 3. i

the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the chopper mechanism and. its carriage;

Fig. 4 1s a longitudinal section taken on I the line 4. -4: of Fig. 3;and

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5- 5 The same characters ofreference designate. the same parts in the differentffigures' of thedrawings."

Referring to the drawings,5( designates a' suitable frame mounted on anaxle ihaving a pair of ground wheels 2 and 3. The

axleis'loosely mounted in one of the wheels,

Specification of Letters Patent. 7

i. further object of the invention is to PAT ENT OFFICE.

OF AUSTIN, TEXAS.

Patented Oct. 26,

Serial No. 295,294.

for instance the wheel 2, while the wheel 3 is connected to the axle forrotation there wlth by means of a key or spline, indicated 111 dottedllnes at 5 in Fig. 3. Any other preferred means for securing theaxle 4for rotatlon w1th the wheel may be used. A pair of depending hangerarmsG provided with sleeve-formed upper ends 7 areloosely mounted on theaxle 4. A gear head or frame formed of upper and lower brackets 3 and 9is adapted to be pivotally mounted in the lower ends of ,the arms. 6.The brackets 8, 9 are secured at theirends to a pair of perforatedblocks 10, through one of wh ch a pivot pin 11 passes, said pin alsopassing through an opening in the lower end of one of the arms 6andbeing secured against longitudinal movement in thea rm byanysuitab'le'means, as for instance a nut 12 threaded on the end of the pin11. The opposite side of the gear head ispivoted by means of'a countershaft 13 passing through the arm 6 and through theother perforated block10, said counter shaft havlng a bearing at itsopposite end in a thirddepending arm' 14:: loosely -mountedon the axle 4a. A spur gear 15 issecured to the axle. and loosely mounted on the axle adjacent to the arm14 is a fourth depending arm 16 carrying at its lower end anintermediate gear 17 in mesh with the spur gear 15, said arm beingprovided with an 'L- shapedextension 18 having a slot in which a pin 19carried by thearm 14 is adapted to move; A spur gear20 is secured to'thecounter shaft 13 in mesh with the intermediate gear 17'. By' thisconstruction the naled in a pair of bearing blocks 26 secured between apair of connecting straps" 27, which are adapted to swing about thelongitudinal axis-of the shaft 23. It will thus be seen that when theground wheel 3 rotates the axle rotates with it because of the splineconnection between the axle and wheel 3, and rotary motion istransmitted through through the bevel pinion 21, idler gear 22 and bevelpinion 24 to the shaft 25;

An angular frame 28 is secured at its" .ends. to opposite sides of theupper and lower connecting straps 27, this frame being so bentthat theside 29 thereof is at an angle of approximately 30 degrees to the.bracket and the hub 32 of the spider.

secured in an opening in the side 29.

ends of the straps 27. Secured to the side 29, within the frame, is anangular bracket 30 having an opening through which passes a studshaft 31, the outer end of Which is The shaft 31 carries adjacent to its innerend a rotatably mounted spider formed of a central disk-shaped'member orhub 32' having I g ture hereln lllustrated, it 1s to be understoodsecured therein. a plurality (shown herein as five in number) of radialarms 33, each having secured at its outer end ahoe or knife 34. Asuitable spacing member or washer 35 is placed on the stud shaft betweenth: bevel gearEBG is secured to the hub 32 for rotation therewithontheshaftBl, in mesh with a bevel gear 37 secured to the end of the shaft25. It will thus be seen that the rotary, motion imparted to the shaft25 as "above described will cause the rotation of Theframe 28.issupported by means of a .the spider and thereby'the hoes or knives 34.

pair of spring members 38secured at one end to the frame, one at'eachside thereof, -and at the opposite end to the frame 50 of the carriage,wherebythe rotating hoes or.

. knives 34 will normally be maintained in properyielding contact withthe'ground. f

' .7 F or steering the chopperqframe 28, a pair of uprights or standards39 are secured to the frame, one at cach side thereof, each having apedal 40 mounted on its upper end in position to be operated by the feetof the driver when "seated on the seat 41, where by; said frame maybeswung from oneside to the other for-following the line of the cottondrill. 7

the upper-strap member 27. 4X second lever 5,45 is mounted on thecarriage frame and is whereby this gear head "may be raised or connectedby means of a rod or cable 46with an eye bolt 47 carried by the gearhead8,9,

.-lowered to changethe angular position of the hoes 34 with relation tothe ground.

By this construction it'is possible to regulate 'the'chopper to suit theheight of the horses 1used to"haul thecarriage'; This is to say,

7 when very high horses 'are'used the frontiof the. carriage will bethrown upwardly and therear downwardly, andifthe gear head were rigidlyconnected with the carriage frame the hoes or knives 34 would be causedV to sink toodeeply into the ground. On the other hand, if very smallhorses were used the hoes would probably swing toohigh above the ground.By the present construction, however, this difficulty is entirely overicome, since when large horses are used theleven 45 may be shifted so asto raise the hoes sufficiently to compensate for the extra height of thehorses, while when small horses are used the lever may be shifted tolower the hoes. In Fig.3 is shown broken away j a pole or tongue 48 oftheusual construction,

attached by angular straps 49 to "the frame 50 of the carriage and towhich :the team may be hitched.

' While I have described in detail the structhat I do not thereby limitmy invention to the precise features of construction shown, as I amaware that many modifications'and mechanical changes may be made therein'without departing from the spirit and scope 4 1. In a cotton chopperthe combination with a' wheel supported structure including an axle,arms hung from and adapted to swing relative to the aXle, a' gearsupported'by and movablewith the arm, and

means for'transmittingmotion to said gear from the axle, and a structureconnected at one end to the arms, said structure being mounted forlateral angular adjustment relative to, the arms, a longitudinal shaftcarried by saidstructure, means for transtary chopper actuated by saidshaft, a'yiel'dtheaxle, a gear frame, carried by the arms,

v mitting motion thereto from the gear, a roable support for the "rearportion of the V V a gear in said frame, and means for driving the gearfrom the axle, of a structure-'con- 1 nected to the frame at one end andmounted to swlng laterally relative thereto, a shaft journaled in saidstructure and driven by' the gear, adjustable means connected to thegear frame forraising and lowering the' structure at one end,adjustable-means for raising and lowering the other end portion of thestructure, a yielding support for one end portion of'said structure, anda rotary chopping element actuated by the shaft.

3. Ina cotton chopper. the combination with a wheel supportedstructureincluding a drive axle, of arms, carriedby and mounted 1 to swing on theaxle, a'structure connected at one end to said arms, adjustable meansfor raising and lowering the respective end portions of said structure,a gear carried by one end of the structure, means for transmittingmotion thereto from the axle, a longitudinal shaft in said structure andactuated by the gear, and a rotary chopping element actuated by andadjustable angularly relative to the shaft, said shaft carryingstructure being bodily movable upwardly and downwardly relative to theaxle and being adjustable angularly laterally relative to the 10 arms.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing A. WQ SPEOKELS, L. HEILIGBRODT.

